US consumer watchdog's crackdown on firms sending spam texts

A top US consumer rights watchdog today cracked down on overseas companies and individuals, including one from India, for sending spam texts to people to dupe them of money and target them for illegal robocalls.
In its complaint, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) alleged that scammers sent unwanted text messages to consumers, many of whom had to pay for receiving the texts.
The messages promised consumers free gifts or prizes, including gift cards worth USD 1,000 to major retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart and Target.
The FTC filed a complaint in this regard with the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against several overseas companies and individuals including Pune-based Revenue Path E-Consulting and its CEO Sarita Somani.

In its complaint, FTC alleged that these companies and individuals, nine in all, were involved in various aspects of the operation in violation of the FTC Act and the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
As such it sought injunctions against the defendants preventing them from continuing their alleged deceptive and unfair practices as well as requiring them to pay monetary relief.

According to the complaint, when consumers followed the links included in the unwanted messages, they were directed to sites that collected a substantial amount of personal information, including in some instances health information, before being allowed to continue towards receiving the supposed gift cards.

In many cases, the information was requested under the guise of being shipping information for the supposed gift cards.
The Commission alleges that in addition to selling the information for marketing purposes, the defendants also made unwanted automated telemarketing calls to consumers selling products such as home security, satellite television and travel services.
Once consumers entered their personal information, they were directed to another site and told they would have to participate in a number of "offers" to be eligible for their gift card.
In some cases, consumers were obligated to sign up for as many as 13 of the offers.

These offers frequently included recurring subscriptions for which consumers were required to provide credit card information and pay up front for "shipping and handling" charges.
In other cases, they required consumers to submit applications for credit that would be reflected in their credit reports and possibly affect their credit score.
In most, if not all, instances, it would be impossible for a consumer to receive the allegedly "free" merchandise without spending money, FTC said in its complaint.